Desecration of stone on Hill of Tara described as 'mindless act of vandalism'

A worker from the office of public works begin the clean up of graffiti on the Lia Fail standing stone, which is also known as the Stone of Destiny, on the Hill of Tara near Skryne in County Meath. 

The desecration of a sacred stone in Co Meath has been described by a local councillor as a “mindless act of vandalism”.

The Stone of Destiny or Lia Fáil, located on the historic tourist location the Hill of Tara, was subject to an act of vandalism earlier this week, when it was branded with the word ‘Fake’.

Independent councillor and Cathoirleach of Meath County Council Nick Killian said the Hill of Tara is one of Ireland's most important and significant sites and that the council was appalled at the damage.

It is believed the incident occurred sometime between Monday night and yesterday morning.

This is not the first time the stone has been tampered with, having survived damages caused by a hammer in 2012 and again covered in paint in 2014.

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Ian Lumley of the heritage organisation An Taisce said that what happened on Tara was “probably the worst example yet of this increasing vandalism and mindless use of spray stuff”.

“It’s already infesting our towns and cities, but this is attacking a monument of huge historical and mythological significance to one of the things that unify us – our ancient Irish culture that is part of our national identity,” he told the PA news agency.

“We’re seeing it’s an absolute scourge in our cities and larger towns on historic things, particularly when you get a stone like granite – once it’s sprayed with these horrible aerosols, it’s much more difficult to remove.

“You need expensive elaborate chemical treatment, you’ve got to make sure if you’re dealing with an historic piece of sculpture or stonework, that in cleaning off the vandalism paint that you don’t damage the stone or the monument in the process,” he added.

The Office of Public Works were instrumental in getting the stone back to its "pristine condition" then and have vowed to do the same this time around.

The 100-acre-site is a widely renowned tourist hotspot, having attracted close to 118,000 visitors in 2021 alone.

The town has recently launched the Tara Conservation Management plan in order to minimise the amount of anti-social behaviour, due to the open nature of the site.

"It's very hard to have a place like that monitored and managed because of the valley,” Mr Killian told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

Members of the public look at graffiti on the Lia Fail standing stone, which is also known as the Stone of Destiny, on the Hill of Tara near Skryne in County Meath. 

The Hill of Tara is utilised by a wide range of the community, with visitors, walkers, those with dogs and sports teams all availing of the facilities in some way.

Gardaí have launched an investigation into the matter.

As for the reasons why someone would carry out such an act, Mr Killian says ‘the mind boggles.. Who knows” He hopes whoever has damaged the stone feels ‘shame’ upon reflection of their actions.

“We should learn from this,” Mr Lumley added.

“This isn’t just about Tara, Ireland is blessed and enriched with a great legacy of monuments, from ancient tombs to medieval churches to more ordinary, more recent things that we need to protect and care for and be more vigilant, and within communities, do our best to clamp down on this sort of vandalism."

The Hill of Tara is open as normal today, Mr Killian added.

Additional reporting from PA